WND MEDIA

Earthquack! Top 'Duck' returns to air

Suspended star Phil Robertson to appear in brand-new episodes

Drew Zahn covers movies for WND as a contributing writer. A former pastor, he is the editor of seven books, including Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND column, "Popcorn and a (world)view." Drew currently serves as communications director for The Family Leader.

According to Entertainment Weekly, sources close to the show report nine of the 10 remaining episodes of season four have already been shot, and the network has no plans to cut out the footage featuring the senior Robertson.

The source also reported the network hopes media and fan furor will cool down over the holidays and plans for shooting future episodes can be resolved.

“There’s no negotiation to have; we’re doing the show,” the network insider reportedly told Entertainment Weekly. “We’ll figure out a solution. It’s just not going to happen overnight. Everybody will take a break for the holidays and regroup afterward. That’s probably the smartest thing for everyone to do. Time heals a lot of wounds.”

Robertson, however, has said he has no plans to “cool down” his commitment to speaking out biblically on the topic of sin.

“I will not give or back off from my path,” Robertson told his Bible study group over the weekend.

As WND reported, A&E suspended Robertson after he called homosexuality illogical, while proffering his male viewpoint preferring female anatomy to that of other men.

Robertson also dared to use the word “sin” in defending a biblical viewpoint on sexual morality: “Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong … Sin becomes fine. Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.”

Paraphrasing Corinthians, he said, “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers – they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

Then on Sunday, at a small Bible study group Robertson led in his home town church in West Monroe, La., London’s Daily Mail was on hand to hear how Robertson would follow up his comments.

“I am just reading what was written over 2,000 years ago,” Robertson said. “Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom. All I did was quote from the Scriptures, but they just didn’t know it. Whether I said it, or they read it, what’s the difference? The sins are the same, humans haven’t changed.

“If you give them the bad news, they’ll start kicking and screaming,” he continued. “But you love them more than you fear them, so you tell them.”

“I remember when TV networks believed in the First Amendment. It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended,” said Jindal in a prepared statement sent through email and Twitter this morning.

The governor also described Robertson and his family members, who all appear on the reality television show together, as “great citizens of the state of Louisiana.”

“The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with. I don’t agree with quite a bit of stuff I read in magazine interviews or see on TV. In fact, come to think of it, I find a good bit of it offensive. But I also acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views,” said Jindal.

The homosexual activist group GLAAD is blasting Robertson’s remarks as “vile.”

“Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe,” said spokesperson Wilson Cruz.

“He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans – and Americans – who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. Phil’s decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors who now need to reexamine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT people and families.”

“The long knives are out for Phil Robertson,” noted radio giant Rush Limbaugh. “The left is hysterical. Rather than just let it go … they’re making a huge, huge deal out of it. It’s outrageous. But his views … they line up almost exactly with the views of the new BFF (best friend forever) of the libs, the Catholic Church.”

Phil Robertson of "Duck Dynasty" featured in GQ

The controversy has prompted Robertson to issue somewhat of a backtrack, as A&E released a statement Wednesday from Phil.

“I myself am a product of the ’60s; I centered my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior. My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the Bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together,” says the duck hunter.

Robertson continues, “However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other.”

Regarding the future of his megapopular television show, Robertson said the end is at least fairly near.

“Let’s face it,” he says. “Three, four, five years, we’re out of here. You know what I’m saying? It’s a TV show. This thing ain’t gonna last forever. No way.”

And on sacrificing the family’s privacy in order to spread the good word:

“For the sake of the Gospel, it was worth it. … All you have to do is look at any society where there is no Jesus. I’ll give you four: Nazis, no Jesus. Look at their record. Uh, Shintos? They started this thing in Pearl Harbor. Any Jesus among them? None. Communists? None. Islamists? Zero. That’s eighty years of ideologies that have popped up where no Jesus was allowed among those four groups. Just look at the records as far as murder goes among those four groups.”